The following sentence states one of the most important things I have ever learned: We live by choice, not by chance.

We should always keep in mind that we all have been given this amazing ability to choose what we think about, and it is always so very important that we choose to have positive thoughts, and choose to avoid negative thoughts.

Regarding our thoughts, we should think of our mind as a garden, and we are the master gardener. The thoughts we choose are the seeds we plant in the garden of our mind. Therefore, as the master gardener in control of our thoughts, we should choose to plant good seeds (positive thoughts), and choose not to plant bad seeds (negative thoughts). Always remember that we all have been given this remarkable ability to choose our thoughts and therefore, what we choose to think about. Consider these six words of wisdom from the great motivational author and speaker, Mr. Earl Nightingale. “We become what we think about.”

Further, we also choose our friends, we choose our spoken and written words, and we choose our personal actions and interactions with others. We also choose our lifestyle and personal habits, such as our personal diet, exercise, getting enough rest, avoiding all tobacco, and we all make many other choices all day long.

Every choice we make will yield results. If we make good choices, we get good results. If we make bad choices, we get bad results. Of course, we cannot always choose what happens to us in life, but we can always choose how we respond to what happens to us in life. Ultimately, we all will become a product of our personal choices. Now, let’s take a brief look at two very important personal daily choices, our attitude, and our choice of words.

≤ Attitude: Clearly, we all should choose to have a positive attitude and this will have a positive effect on our personal interactions with family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and others. Here is some wisdom from the best selling motivational author, Mr. Hal Urban. “Our attitude is often the most important choice we make every day.” William James is considered by many to be the father of American Psychology. This is his famous quote about attitude. “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.”

≤ Words: We all need to be aware of the power of the words we choose. They may be spoken words, written words, and of course, in our society today, this includes the words we put in our text messages and emails. Here is one of my favorite quotes regarding our spoken words. The following wisdom about our words is from Thumper Rabbit in the classic Disney movie, Bambi: “If you can’t say somethin’ nice, then don’t say nothin’ at all.”

Lastly, we all should choose to believe in ourselves, and choose to be our own best friend.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Jim Surrell is the author of “The ABC’s For Success In All We Do” and the “SOS (Stop Only Sugar) Diet” books. He has his practice at the Digestive Health Clinic at U.P. Health System-Marquette. Requests for health topics for this column are encouraged. Contact Dr. Surrell by email at sosdietdoc@gmail.com.